The art of building

A new gallery by US architect Steven Holl is adding a modern edge to the traditional city of Nanjing in China

In its old age (around 2,500), Nanjing is turning out to be China's creative soul. The past decade has been kinder to Nanjing than the previous 10: thousands of university students have helped revive the cultural landscape and a new high-speed rail link, which takes 75 minutes from Shanghai, is bringing visitors. The Nanjing Sifang Art Museum by Steven Holl Architects combines the city's new lust for contemporary art with its long-standing appreciation of iconic design. Its serpentine formation, ending in a glowing, glass-walled gallery with views across the city, lends the bamboo-formed concrete structure a modern twist. 'Our idea was to communicate the differences between Western and Chinese painting after the 13th century,' says Holl. 'Western painting has vanishing points, whereas the Chinese rejected that for parallel perspective.' The latter inspired the courtyard, paved in ancient bricks. 'And everything is in black and white, which traces back to the ancient Chinese art of calligraphy.' Big-impact projects by high-profile architects, including a guesthouse by David Adjaye, are underway near the museum and should open later this year.